Apparatus and method for using contents information in digital rights management

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for determining contents information corresponding to a Rights Object (RO) by transmitting information on contents together when the RO is moved from a mobile device to a memory card or a smart card or when the RO is moved from the memory card or the smart card to the mobile device are provided. The apparatus includes a meta information manager for determining information on contents corresponding to the RO when the RO is moved, and for generating meta information containing the determined contents information, and a controller for providing control to transmit the RO and the meta information generated by the meta information manager to a portable storage device. Accordingly, the conventional problem can be solved in which information on contents cannot be determined by using a Contents IDentifier (CID) if the RO does not exist together with the contents.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application is related to and claims the benefit under 35U.S.C. §119(a) of a Korean patent application filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Aug. 21, 2008 and assigned Serial No.10-2008-0082079 and a Korean patent application filed in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office on Mar. 30, 2009 and assigned Ser. No.10-2009-0026818 the entire disclosure of both of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to determining contents informationcorresponding to a Rights Object (RO) by transmitting information oncontents together when the RO is moved from a mobile device to a memorycard or a smart card or when the RO is moved from the memory card or thesmart card to the mobile device, and also relates to moving rights usedin an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Digital Rights Management (DRM)/SecureRemovable Media (SRM). More particularly, the present invention relatesto an apparatus and method for storing rights information in an SRMagent, and for accessing an object corresponding to the rightsinformation when the SRM agent is installed in another device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital Rights Management (DRM) is a technique for avoiding illegaldistribution and copying of digital contents so that only legitimateusers can use the contents, and for managing rights of digital contentsby using an accounting service or the like.

Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) DRM widely used as a de factor standard ofthe DRM technique is currently being standardized by an OMAinternational standard organization. A standard document of the OMA DRMtechnique contains technical descriptions regarding encryption ofcontents and reliable transmission to a device such as a portableterminal by packaging a key used for encryption in a format of a RightsObject (RO). Since the release of the OMA DRM version 1.0 in 2002, theOMA DRM version 2.0 was released in 2006, followed by the OMA DRMversion 2.1 in 2007. The Secure Removable Media (SRM) technical standardversion 1.0 was released in 2008, and in this standard, the DRMtechnique can be extended to an external memory (e.g., a memory card, asmart card, etc.) in addition to a portable phone. Examples of functionsprovided in the SRM 1.0 extended from the OMA DRM 2.0 include a functionof moving an RO from a mobile device to a memory card or a smart card(i.e., Device to SRM Move), a function of moving the RO from the memorycard or the smart card to the mobile device (i.e., SRM to Device Move),and a function of consuming the RO stored in the memory card or thesmart card to reproduce contents by the device (i.e., Local RightsConsumption).

In the OMA DRM 2.0 and its subsequent versions, a contents encryptionkey is managed using a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) scheme. The PKIscheme uses secure asymmetric key encryption such as aRivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) encryption algorithm and is recognized as avery secure key management system. Disadvantageously, however, the PKIscheme is not managed by a strongly reliable organization. Therefore,there is a need for a system in which a key is issued and managed by astrongly reliable organization (e.g., a governmental organization).

The OMA DRM 2.0 provides various functions, for example, protocolmessaging for delivering an RO from a service/contents provider to adevice, protection of a contents encryption key and packaging of the RO,contents encryption and packaging, sharing of the RO between devices,etc.

In general, the RO contains a Contents IDentifier (CID) as contentsinformation so as to manage the RO on a contents basis.

When the RO contains only the CID as the contents information, if the ROdoes not exist together with corresponding contents, that is, if onlythe RO is moved to another storage medium, a problem arises in thatinformation on the contents cannot be determined using the CID.

Further, there is another problem in that an access path of contents orits equivalent information does not exist in information related to theRO.

Accordingly, to solve the aforementioned problems, there is a need foran apparatus and method for transmitting additional information on thecontents together with the transmission of an RO.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is aprimary aspect of the present invention to solve at least theabove-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at leastthe advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the presentinvention is to provide an apparatus and method for determining contentsinformation corresponding to a Rights Object (RO) in a mobile device.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus andmethod for transmitting information on contents together when an RO ismoved from a mobile device to a memory card or a smart card or when theRO is moved from the memory card or the smart card to the mobile device.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus andmethod for generating meta information containing information oncontents by using a Contents IDentifier (CID) corresponding to an RO ina mobile device.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus andmethod for moving an RO.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an apparatus andmethod capable of obtaining information on contents by using only rightsinformation independent from the contents by adding contents relatedinformation to the rights information currently in use.

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, an apparatus forproviding contents information when an RO is transmitted is provided.The apparatus includes a meta information manager for determininginformation on contents corresponding to the RO when the RO is moved,and for generating meta information containing the determined contentsinformation, and a controller for controlling a transmission of the ROand the meta information generated by the meta information manager to aportable storage device.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofproviding contents information when an RO is transmitted by a portabledevice is provided. The method includes determining information oncontents corresponding to the RO when the RO is moved, generating metainformation containing the determined contents information, andtransmitting the RO and the generated meta information.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofusing rights information of a Digital Rights Management (DRM) agent isprovided. The method includes, if contents corresponding to the rightsinformation does not exist, determining whether contents informationcorresponding to the contents exist in the rights information, and ifthe contents information exists, obtaining the contents by using thecontents information.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method ofusing rights information of a rights generator is provided. The methodincludes, if contents information corresponding to the rightsinformation does not exist, adding the contents information to therights information, and transmitting the rights information containingthe contents information to a DRM agent.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusof a DRM agent using rights information is provided. The apparatusincludes a controller for determining whether contents informationcorresponding to the contents exist in the rights information ifcontents corresponding to the rights information does not exist, and forobtaining the contents by using the contents information if the contentsinformation exists, and a Secure Removable Media (SRM) agent for storingthe rights information.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an apparatusof a right generator using rights information is provided. The apparatusincludes a controller for adding the contents information to the rightsinformation if contents information corresponding to the rightsinformation does exist, and for transmitting the rights informationcontaining the contents information to a DRM agent.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases“associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivativesthereof, may mean to include, be included within. interconnect with,contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, becommunicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximateto, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like.Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout thispatent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understandthat in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, aswell as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile devicefor transmitting additional information on contents when a Rights Object(RO) is transmitted according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of requesting an RO in amobile device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting an RO froma mobile device to a portable storage device according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a process of transmitting contents informationtogether with the transmission of an RO according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a process of providing contents information when anRO is requested according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of moving rights and obtaining contentsaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of moving rights andobtaining contents according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a contents provideraccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a terminal or aDigital Rights Management (DRM) agent according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a rightsgenerator of a contents provider according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 10, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged wireless communication system.

The present invention described below relates to an apparatus and methodfor determining contents information corresponding to a Rights Object(RO) in a mobile device and, more particularly, to an apparatus andmethod for transmitting information on contents together with the ROwhen the RO is moved from a mobile device to a memory card or a smartcard (i.e., Device to SRM Move) or when the RO is moved from the memorycard or the smart card to the mobile device (i.e., SRM to Device Move).

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a mobile devicefor transmitting additional information on contents when an RO istransmitted according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

The mobile device includes the concept of a portable device (i.e., aDigital Rights Management (DRM) agent) capable of moving the RO and aportable storage device (i.e., a Secure Removable Media (SRM) agent) forstoring the RO. The mobile device may include a controller 100, a metainformation manager 110, a memory 120, and a communication unit 130.

The controller 100 provides overall control to the mobile device. Forexample, the controller 100 processes an operation of the mobile device,transmits an RO of the mobile device to the portable storage device, orreceives and stores an RO of the portable storage device. In additionthereto, when the RO of the mobile device is transmitted to the portablestorage device, the controller 100 instructs the meta informationmanager 110 to generate meta information containing information oncontents corresponding to the RO. Then, the meta information generatedby the meta information manager 110 is transmitted to the portablestorage device under the control of the controller 100.

Further, when an RO request is received, the controller 100 instructsthe meta information manager 110 to obtain information on contents byusing a Contents IDentifier (CID) corresponding to the RO. The metainformation contains a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of contents, acontents format, author information, etc.

The meta information manager 110 may include a contents informationdeterminer 112 and a meta information generator 114. Accordingly, themeta information manager 110 determines information on contentscorresponding to an RO under the control of the controller 100, andgenerates meta information containing the determined contentsinformation.

The meta information manager 110 instructs the contents informationdeterminer 112 to determine the information on contents corresponding tothe RO, and instructs the meta information generator 114 to generatemeta information by using the contents information determined by thecontents information determiner 112.

The meta information generator 114 may generate the meta information byadding the contents information to an AssetID defined in an Open MobileAlliance (OMA) SRM spec or generate the meta information by using ascheme in which an existing SRM protocol is extended by adding thecontents information according to extensibility of a binary messageformat on the OMA SRM spec. That is, in the present invention, to add adata type undefined in the conventional SRM standard, a space forstoring the meta information is allocated to the AssetID defined on themessage field of the appendix c.2 of the OMA SRM spec.

The memory 120 includes a Read Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory(RAM), and a flash ROM. The ROM stores a microcode of a program by whichthe controller 100 and the meta information manager 110 are processedand controlled and a variety of reference data.

The RAM is a working memory of the controller 100 and stores temporarydata that is generated while programs are performed.

The communication unit 130 transmits and receives messages for moving anRO to be consumed when contents are used between mobile devices, i.e.,between a portable device (i.e., a DRM agent) capable of moving the ROand a portable storage device (i.e., an SRM agent) for storing the RO.More specifically, the communication unit 130 transmits or receivesinformation on contents together with the RO. Further, in addition tothe information provided in the present invention, the communicationunit 130 may transmit and receive messages for a communication linkbetween the mobile devices.

Although the operation of the meta information manager 110 may beperformed by the controller 100, this is for exemplary purposes only,and thus the present invention is not limited thereto. Therefore, itwill be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes inform and details may be made therein without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention. For example, all operationsdescribed up to now may be processed by the controller 100.

An apparatus for determining contents information corresponding to an ROin a mobile device has been described above. In this apparatus,information on contents is transmitted together with the RO when the ROis moved from the mobile device to a memory card or a smart card or whenthe RO is moved from the memory card or the smart card to the mobiledevice. Hereinafter, a method of transmitting information on contentstogether with the RO when an RO is moved using the aforementionedapparatus will be described according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process of requesting an RO in amobile device according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. The mobile device is an entity for requesting the ROaccording to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Theprocess of FIG. 2 can also apply when the RO is requested from aportable storage device to another device.

Referring to FIG. 2, the mobile device determines whether an RO requestevent is generated in step 201. The RO request event is generated tomove an RO stored in a memory card or a smart card from the mobiledevice or to move the RO from the memory card or the smart card to themobile device. The RO request is requested from a portable storagedevice (i.e., an SRM agent) to a portable device (i.e., a DRM agent).

If it is determined that the RO request event is not generated, theprocess of step 201 is repeated.

If it is determined that the RO request event is generated, proceedingto step 203, the mobile device determines a CID corresponding to the RO.

In step 205, the mobile device transmits the CID corresponding to the ROto the SRM agent. In step 207, the mobile device receives the requestedRO and meta information containing information on contents from the SRMagent.

Thereafter, the procedure of FIG. 2 ends.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of transmitting an RO froma mobile device to a portable storage device according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. The mobile device is an entity fortransmitting the RO according to the exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention. The process of FIG. 3 can also apply when the RO istransmitted from the portable storage device to another device, andcorresponds to the process of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3, the mobile device receives a meta informationrequest in step 301. The meta information request is requested by aportable device (i.e., a DRM agent) from a portable storage device(i.e., an SRM agent). The mobile device determines a CID contained inthe meta information request in step 303, and searches for informationon contents corresponding to the CID in step 305.

The mobile device may allow the meta information manager 110 to obtainthe information on contents by using the CID.

In step 307, the mobile device determines whether the obtaining of theinformation on contents is complete.

If the obtaining of the information on contents is not complete, theprocess of step 305 is repeated.

Otherwise, if the obtaining of the information on contents is complete,proceeding to step 309, the mobile device allows the meta informationmanager 110 to generate meta information containing the information oncontents. Then, in step 311, the meta information generated by the metainformation manager 110 is transmitted together with the RO to the DRMagent that requested the meta information.

The mobile device may generate the meta information by adding thecontents information to an AssetID defined in an OMA SRM spec orgenerate the meta information using a scheme in which an existing SRMprotocol is extended by adding the contents information according toextensibility of a binary message format on the OMA SRM spec.

Thereafter, the procedure of FIG. 3 ends.

FIG. 4 illustrates a process of transmitting contents informationtogether with the transmission of an RO according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a mobile device of the present invention includes aportable device 400 (i.e., a DRM agent) capable of moving the RO and aportable storage device 420 (i.e., an SRM agent) for storing the RO.

When an RO transmission event is generated in the portable device 400capable of moving the RO (step 401), the portable device 400 determinescontents information corresponding to the RO to be transmitted (step403). The contents information determined by the portable device 400 maybe a URL of contents, a contents format, author information, etc.

Thereafter, the portable device 400 generates meta information by usingthe determined contents information (step 405). The meta informationcontains the contents information.

After generating the meta information, the portable device 400 transmitsthe generated meta information to the portable storage device 420 forstoring the RO (step 407). Then, the portable storage device 420receives the meta information (step 409), and stores the metainformation.

Thereafter, the portable storage device 420 for storing the RO transmitsa response for reporting reception of the meta information to theportable device 400 that transmitted the RO (step 411), and the portabledevice 400 receives the response (step 413). Then, the procedure of FIG.4 ends.

FIG. 5 illustrates a process of providing contents information when anRO is requested according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a mobile device of the present invention includes aportable device 500 (i.e., a DRM agent) capable of moving the RO and aportable storage device 511 (i.e., an SRM agent) for storing the RO.

When an RO request event is generated in the portable device 500 capableof moving the RO, meta information is requested from the portablestorage device 511 for storing the RO (step 501).

Upon receiving the meta information request, the portable storage device511 determines a CID contained in the meta information request (step503), and then obtains meta information containing information oncontents (step 505). That is, the portable storage device 511 determinescontents corresponding to the RO by using the CID, and then obtains themeta information by obtaining the information on contents.

Thereafter, the portable storage device 511 transmits the obtained metainformation to the portable device 500 that requested the RO (step 507),and the portable device 500 receives the meta information transmitted bythe portable storage device 511 (step 509), and stores the metainformation.

In the OMA SRM standard, rights information may be moved and used bybeing separated from contents. Therefore, when the rights information isused alone, it is difficult to manage the contents by using only currentrights information.

If meta information and a URL of contents are contained in the rightsinformation, information on contents can be obtained at a later time byusing only the rights information. Therefore, even if the rightsinformation is separately preserved or provided to another user, userconvenience can be achieved.

In addition, in a case where rights of contents are completely consumed,if required by a user, the contents can be obtained again as long asrights information having a relatively small size is preserved withouthaving to preserve the contents to be used again.

The rights information contains rights meta data, a rights objectcontainer, state information, and a Rights Encryption Key (REK), and isconfigured as shown in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Rights Meta Data Rights Object Container State Information REK

Among the above items, the rights meta data is added to meta informationcorresponding to the contents, such as a URL for accessing the contents,a contents title, a format, etc., as shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Rights Object Version RO Alias RI Identifier RI URL RI Alias RITime Stamp Content URL Content Title Content Format

Conventionally, the rights object container has only CID information.However, the present invention adds additional information regardingrights information containing the contents URL to the rights meta data.Therefore, more amount of information can be searched for, and thecontents can be loaded by using contents related information containedin the rights meta data without having to perform complex parsing on anRO.

As such, independent rights information containing the contents relatedinformation may be separately preserved by a user or may be provided toanother user. Afterwards, the user can determine and manage informationon contents contained in the rights information and, if necessary, canuse the contents again by using the URL.

FIG. 6 illustrates a process of moving rights and obtaining contentsaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, when a DRM agent 655 is used, a user 650 obtainscontents and rights information containing contents information from acontents provider 610 (step 1). The contents provider 610 includes arights generator 615 and a contents generator 617.

The obtained rights information may be stored in a portable memoryincluded in the DRM agent 655, and the portable memory will be referredto as an SRM agent 656 in the present invention. Thereafter, the user650 may use the contents.

The user 650 changes a device currently in use to a different terminalor a different DRM agent 657, and installs the SRM agent 656 into thedifferent terminal or the different DRM agent 657 (steps 2 and 3).

If the contents do not exist in the different terminal or the differentDRM agent 657, the user 650 can obtain and use the contents by using therights information stored in the SRM agent 656 (step 4).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process of moving rights andobtaining contents according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

Referring to FIG. 7, when a DRM agent is used, a user obtains contentsand rights information containing contents information from a contentsprovider (step 710). The contents provider includes a rights generatorand a contents generator.

The obtained rights information is moved to a portable memory includedin the DRM agent (step 720). That is, the obtained rights informationcan be stored in the portable memory.

If the user changes a device currently in use to a different terminal ora different DRM agent (step 730) and if the user installs the SRM agentin the different terminal or the different DRM agent (step 740), thenthe user can obtain and use the contents by using the rights informationstored in the SRM agent (step 750).

The contents may be obtained by determining rights meta information inwhich rights information containing a contents URL is additionallyincluded. Accordingly, the conventional problem can be solved in whichinformation on contents cannot be determined by using CID information ina rights object container.

If the user does not change the device currently in use to the differentterminal or the different DRM agent (step 730), the user may use storedcontents, or can obtain and use the contents by using rights informationstored in the SRM agent (step 750).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a contents provideraccording to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 8, the contents provider inserts the aforementionedcontents information into rights information (step 810). Thereafter, therights information inserted with the contents information is transmittedto a DRM agent or a terminal (step 820). That is, the contents provideradds rights information containing a contents URL to rights meta dataand transmits the resultant information to the DRM agent or theterminal.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a terminal or aDRM agent according to another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the terminal or the DRM agent includes acommunication modem 910, a controller 920, a storage unit 930, and arights manager 940.

The communication modem 910 is a module for communicating with anothernode, and includes a wireless processor and a baseband processor. Thewireless processor converts a signal received through an antenna into abaseband signal and then provides the baseband signal to the basebandprocessor. Further, the wireless processor converts a baseband signalreceived from the baseband processor into a wireless signal that can betransmitted on an actual wireless path and then transmits the wirelesssignal through the antenna.

The controller 920 provides overall control of the terminal or the DRMagent. In particular, the controller 920 controls the rights manager940.

The storage unit 930 stores a program for controlling overall operationsof the device and also stores temporary data that is generated while theprogram is performed. Further, the storage unit 930 includes an SRMagent 935.

The rights manager 940 obtains contents and rights informationcontaining contents information from a contents provider. The rightsmanager 940 may obtain the contents by determining rights meta data inwhich rights information containing a contents URL is additionallyincluded. The contents provider includes a rights generator and acontents generator. The obtained rights information can be moved andstored in the SRM agent 935 of the storage unit 930 in the DRM agent.

When a user changes a device currently in use to a different terminal ora different DRM agent and installs the SRM agent 935 in the differentterminal or the different DRM agent, a rights manager of the differentterminal or the different DRM agent can obtain and use contents by usingrights information stored in the SRM agent 935.

In the aforementioned structure, the controller 920 can perform afunction of the rights manager 940. Although they are constructed asdifferent functional blocks in the present invention, this is forexemplary purposes only.

Therefore, when a product is implemented in practice, the function ofthe rights manager 940 may be either entirely or partially processed bythe controller 920.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a rightsgenerator of a contents provider according to another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, the rights generator includes a communicationmodem 1010, a controller 1020, a storage unit 1030, and a rights manager1040.

The communication modem 1010 is a module for communicating with anothernode, and includes a wired processor and a baseband processor. The wiredprocessor converts a signal received through a wired path into abaseband signal and provides the baseband signal to the basebandprocessor. Further, the wired processor converts a baseband signalreceived from the baseband processor into a wired signal that can betransmitted on an actual wired path and transmits the wired signalthrough the wired path.

The controller 1020 provides overall control of the rights generator. Inparticular, the controller 1020 controls the rights manager 1040.

The storage unit 1030 stores a program for controlling overalloperations of the device and also stores temporary data that isgenerated while the program is performed. Further, the storage unit 1030stores rights information.

The rights manager 1040 inserts the aforementioned contents informationinto rights information to be transmitted to a terminal, and transmitsthe rights information inserted with the contents information to a DRMagent or the terminal. In this case, the rights manager 1040 adds rightsinformation containing a contents URL to rights meta data.

In the aforementioned structure, the controller 1020 can perform afunction of the rights manager 1040. Although they are configured asdifferent functional blocks in the present invention, this is forexemplary purposes only.

Therefore, when a product is implemented in practice, the function ofthe rights manager 1040 may be either entirely or partially processed bythe controller 1020.

As described above, in the present invention, information on contents istransmitted together with the RO when an RO is moved from a mobiledevice to a memory card or a smart card or when the RO is moved from thememory card or the smart card to the mobile device. Therefore, theconventional problem in which the information on contents cannot bedetermined by using a CID when the RO does not exist together with thecontents (that is, when only the RO is moved to another storage medium)is solved.

In addition, the present invention has an advantage in that contents canbe effectively managed and obtained by using rights information.

Alternate embodiments of the present invention can also comprisecomputer readable codes on a computer readable medium. The computerreadable medium includes any data storage device that can store datathat can be read by a computer system. Examples of a computer readablemedium include magnetic storage media (such as ROM, floppy disks, andhard disks, among others), optical recording media (such as CD-ROMs orDVDs), and storage mechanisms such as carrier waves (such astransmission through the Internet). The computer readable medium canalso be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that thecomputer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.Also, functional programs, codes, and code segments for accomplishingthe present invention can be construed by programmers of ordinary skillin the art to which the present invention pertains.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1. An apparatus for providing contents information when a Rights Object(RO) is transmitted, the apparatus comprising: a meta informationmanager for determining information on contents corresponding to theRights Object when the Rights Object is moved, and for generating metainformation containing the determined contents information; and acontroller for controlling a transmission of the Rights Object and themeta information generated by the meta information manager to a portablestorage device.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the metainformation manager determines the contents by using a ContentsIDentifier (CID) contained in the Rights Object to be moved, anddetermines contents information corresponding to the determinedcontents.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the meta informationmanager generates the meta information by adding the contentsinformation to an AssetID defined in an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA)Secure Removable Media (SRM) spec or generates the meta informationusing a scheme in which an existing SRM protocol is extended by addingthe contents information according to extensibility of a binary messageformat on the OMA SRM spec.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein themeta information is information containing at least one of a UniformResource Locator (URL) of the contents, a contents format, an authorinformation, and a contents title.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe apparatus comprises a portable device capable of moving the RightsObject and the portable storage device for storing the Rights Object. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the meta information can be containedin rights meta information.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein thecontroller obtains the contents by determining meta informationcontained in the rights meta information.
 8. A method of providingcontents information when a Rights Object (RO) is transmitted by aportable device, the method comprising: determining information oncontents corresponding to the Rights Object when the Rights Object ismoved; generating meta information containing the evaluated contentsinformation; and transmitting the Rights Object and the generated metainformation.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining of theinformation on contents corresponding to the Rights Object furthercomprises: determining the contents by using a Contents IDentifier (CID)contained in the Rights Object to be moved; and obtaining contentsinformation corresponding to the determined contents.
 10. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the meta information is generated by adding thecontents information to an AssetID defined in an Open Mobile Alliance(OMA) Secure Removable Media (SRM) spec or is generated using a schemein which an existing SRM protocol is extended by adding the contentsinformation according to extensibility of a binary message format on theOMA SRM spec.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the meta information isinformation containing at least one of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL)of the contents, a contents format, an author information, and acontents title.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the method isperformed by the portable device capable of moving the RO and a portablestorage device for storing the Rights Object.
 13. The method of claim 8,wherein the meta information can be contained in rights metainformation.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the method obtains thecontents by determining meta information contained in the rights metainformation.
 15. An apparatus for providing contents information when aRights Object (RO) is transmitted, the apparatus capable of: upondetecting movement of the Rights Object, using a Contents IDentifier(CID) contained in the Rights Object to determine contents correspondingto the Rights Object; obtaining contents information corresponding tothe determined contents; generating meta information containing thecontents information; and transmitting the generated meta informationtogether with the Rights Object.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15, whereinthe meta information is generated by adding the contents information toan AssetID defined in an Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Secure RemovableMedia (SRM) spec or is generated using a scheme in which an existing SRMprotocol is extended by adding the contents information according toextensibility of a binary message format on the OMA SRM spec.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the meta information is informationcontaining at least one of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of thecontents, a contents format, an author information, and a contentstitle.
 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the apparatus comprises aportable device capable of moving the Rights Object and a portablestorage device for storing the Rights Object.
 19. The apparatus of claim15, wherein the meta information can be contained in rights metainformation.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the apparatusobtains the contents by determining meta information contained in therights meta information.
 21. An apparatus for providing contentsinformation when a Rights Object (RO) is transmitted, the apparatuscapable of: a first segment, for upon detecting movement of the RightsObject, using a Contents IDentifier (CID) contained in the Rights Objectto determine contents corresponding to the Rights Object; a secondsegment, for obtaining contents information corresponding to thedetermined contents; a third segment, for generating meta informationcontaining the contents information; and a fourth segment, fortransmitting the generated meta information together with the RightsObject.